Adrianne Shepherd
Independent reporter
Local cowboys and cowgirls made quite the show at the handful of rodeos over the long weekend.
There were four Canadian Professional Rodeo Association sanctioned events between July 28 and Aug. 3 that locals made stops at.
High Prairie was on July 28 and 29, and saw many locals earning day money.
Big Valley’s Wyatt Thurston was just back from the National High School Rodeo Finals in the U.S, where he placed first in performance nine with a 72 point saddle bronc ride which qualified him for the championship short-go round where he placed seventh with a 49 point ride.
In High Prairie, Thurston placed second in the novice saddle bronc riding with a 68-point ride.
In team roping, Matt Fawcett and Steve Thiessen of Stettler placed second with a 5.4 time.
Donalda’s Curtis Cassidy placed first in the steer wrestling with a time of 4.2 seconds.
In the tie down roping, there were four locals in the top eight including Cassidy in eighth place with a time of 9.0, Thiessen in seventh place with an 8.8, Mark Neitz in the second/third split place with an 8.0 and Steve Lloyd in first with a 7.9 time.
The cowboys then moved onto Strathmore, which was from July 30 through Aug. 3.
Cassidy continued his streak placing second in steer wrestling with a time of 4.5 seconds.
Alix’s Rayel Robinson’s 17.61 ride in ladies barrel racing landed her tied for the third and fourth place position.
In the wild horse racing event it was Zane Ashbacher, Clint Ashbacher and Rick Quarrel who placed second.
There was a rodeo in Abbotsford, BC from July 31- Aug 2 where Big Valley’s Jeremy Harden placed third in the saddle bronc event and Brett Thompson tied for the second and third place in bull riding.
Also doing well in Abbotsford were Murray Pole who tied for the first and second place in tie-down roping with a time of 7.6 seconds and Cassidy placed third in steer wrestling with a 3.9.
In team roping Rocky Ross and Chase Simpson placed second with a 5.1 second time.
The last stop for the weekend was in Grimshaw, where Simpson and Ross placed third in team roping with a 5.7 second time.
In tie-down roping Lloyd placed sixth with an 8.3 second time and Dale Skocdopole tied for the third and fourth place position with a 7.7 second time.
Erskine’s Gaetan Bernard placed sixth in the bareback with a 74 point ride.
There are two CPRA rodeos this weekend, one in Dawson Creek, BC and one in Olds.